Science

The hunt is on for invasive Burmese pythons in Florida’s wetlands. More than 400 people have registered so far for Florida’s second Python Challenge, hoping to win prizes and fleeting fame in the fight against the Burmese pythons that have infested the Everglades. Read More »

First flower blooms in space aboard the International Space Station. US astronaut Scott Kelly announced the historic news that a zinnia plant had flowered on the International Space Station (ISS) on his Twitter account, along with a photograph of an orange, 13-petalled flower. Read More »

Scientists are set to start analyzing mysterious cosmic particles that they discovered in the Egyptian Bent Pyramid. And they say the particles could be the answer to how the pyramids were created some 4,600 years ago. Mehdi Tayoubi, president of the Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute, said that plates planted inside the pyramid last month have collected data on radiographic particles ... Read More »

The European Space Agency unveiled plans on Friday to build a “lunar village” by 2030 as a stepping stone to Mars. ESA chief Jan Woerner said the lunar “village” would be a series of structures made by robots and 3D printers that use moon dust as building material. “I looked into the requirements I see for a project after ISS. ... Read More »

U.S. and Honduran archaeologists have begun excavations at a mysterious site on Honduras’ Caribbean coast that may be the near-mythical “White City” ruins. Work that began on Wednesday has so far unearthed about 60 stone and ceramic fragments and other artefacts. The site, also known as the City of the Monkey God, is in Honduras’ jungle-covered Mosquito coastal region. Read More »

The Dream Chaser space plane that lands on a runway like an aeroplane and launches with the help of a rocket will join the duo of privately operated space capsules – SpaceX’s reusable Dragon and Orbital ATK’s disposable Cygnus. NASA awarded contracts valued at several billion dollars Jan. 14 to three companies, including one newcomer, for commercial cargo deliveries to ... Read More »

If the night sky is clear the next few days it will provide ideal viewing for a comet Catalina. Comet C/2013 US10 will pass nearest to Earth at a very safe distance this weekend, on January 17. At its closest, the comet will be some 68 million miles (110 million km) from Earth. It isn’t visible to the eye alone, ... Read More »

Robotic, underwater vehicles may give scientists a new tool to better understand shark behavior. These robots may be able to travel where humans cannot in order to show scientists how sharks behave in the wild. “We wanted to test the REMUS SharkCam technology to prove that is was a viable tool for observing marine animals—sharks in this case—and to collect ... Read More »

A team of scientists from the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences and the Geological Museum Giovanni Capellini of the University of Bologna discovered the skeletons of giant crocodiles representing a new species, Machimosaurus rex. The Tataouine governorate in southern Tunisia is becoming a pivotal region for our understanding of the ‘middle age’ of the dinosaur epoch. Since 2009, ... Read More »

For the first time, ever, scientists have a complete skeleton of a baby ceratopsid, says professor Philip Currie from the University of Alberta. And they’re letting the world know. Currie and other colleagues have published results of their research in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. “We’ve only had a few isolated bones before to give us an idea of what ... Read More »

Climate change could cut first nations’ fisheries catch by up to 50 per cent, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia. “Climate change is likely to lead to declines in herring and salmon, which are among the most important species commercially, culturally, and nutritionally for First Nations,” said Lauren Weatherdon, who conducted the study when she ... Read More »